This invention relates to an apparatus for tenderizing meat in which a plurality of knives each comprising an elongated blade having a cutting end for penetrating and severing the meat and fibers therein are reciprocated into and out of the meat while it is held on a retainer with the result that any fibers such as naturally occur in grass fattened cattle, for example, are severed into short pieces by making almost undetectable cuts in the meat with the result that the meat can be cooked in the normal manner but is much more tender than normal without loss of flavor.
Many forms of apparatus for such mechanical tenderizing of meat by severing fibers into short lengths and which use elongated blades with knife ends have been proposed and appear in the prior art. Thus one such meat tenderizing apparatus which is particularly used with meats that are free of bones so that contact of the blades with bones is not a problem is U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,623 as well as certain prior patents listed and briefly discussed therein.
Another such meat tenderizing apparatus but where the meat contains bones so that the apparatus is constructed with longitudinally yieldable knife combinations so that the knives will yield and not be damaged is U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,464 and the prior art references discussed therein. Both of these patents are assigned to the assignee hereof.
Whether the mechanical tenderizers are "bone-in" or "bone-out" they employ long thin blades so as to avoid damage to the meat and to avoid changing its cooking characteristics. These long thin blades sometimes tend to bend excessively particularly where the meat is quite tough. The tenderizing apparatus of this invention provides a blade stabilizer means including a stabilizer member through which the blades extend and which engage the blades intermediate the ends thereof so as to provide a stabilizer against excessive lateral bending of the blades and thereby prevent substantial damage to the blades.